A one-time governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara State, Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN), who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, says in this interview withSuccess Nwogu, that the defection of Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will frustrate the wish of the Kwara people to do away with the duo

 How would you react to the defection  of  Dr. Bukola Saraki, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and their loyalists from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress?

Let me say three things. First of all, I have full respect for the position of the national leadership of our party, APC, regarding the defection of the G-7 or G-5 Governors, including the personalities that you have mentioned.  And I understand it from a point of view of national politics. Secondly, as a politician answerable to a local base, I am fully conscious and responsive to the yearnings of the local population. Thirdly, yes any move is always welcome, you will also know that it is not just about a movement, or entry, it should be about value added. So you have to look at the value added.

Do you think that these personalities by their entry to APC will add value to the party and to the Kwara residents?

I do not think they will add any value whatsoever to the interest and people of Kwarans.

Why do you say so?

They represent  stigma  that the Kwara State people are trying to get rid of.  Kwara People want a change.  They want to move away from impoverishment.  They want to move away from leadership by selfish few that rob people of their commonwealth for their own selfish needs. Kwarans do not want leaders who say that nobody can get anything in Kwara State or attain any position in Kwara unless I say so.  Kwara people do not want to be impoverished.  They do not want leaders who rob them of their opportunities. So from that point of that view, I do not believe that Kwara people see that movement as an asset.

You are saying that Saraki’s leadership and that of Ahmed have impoverished  Kwarans but some believe they are transforming the state?

Where is the evidence of transformation? There isn’t any. On the contrary, what you see is that the state has been driven to close to bankruptcy. As you could recall, some time ago, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, (AMCON) said that Kwara was unbankable. That cannot surely be evidence of transformation or development. Kwara is a first generation state that was created in 1967. Today, it is economically backward and does not rank among  any of the first generation states.  It, indeed, ranks  with some third generation states. That cannot be favourably an evidence of good leadership. Kwara State people deserve better.

With the defection of these personalities, some people believe that PDP is finished in the state. Do you share their views?

I can not speak for the PDP.  I think you need to ask somebody in the PDP to talk about that.

The tempo of the Kwara politics, is believed, to depend on the Sarakis. Are you not taking risk by not being in their camp?

I have never been in their camp. It is that very notion that the people of Kwara reject. Besides, none of these is  about Dele Belgore and what his interests are? It is a paramount community interest which overrides the interest of any individual or collection of interests. I generally do not like to mention names. Kwara is bigger than any individual or any one group of individuals. The time has come and the Kwara people have braced themselves, they are ready to demonstrate that the whole world.

There is a belief in some quarters that Sarakis have great leadership because of their people-oriented and charity activities. Do you acknowledge this?

I am yet to see those people-oriented charities and perhaps you should ask some ordinary Kwarans what these people-oriented charities are. Of course, they are never short of praise singers and hand-picked cronies who will banter all these things around but if the truth must be told, you need to look at the ordinary people. Besides, where is the face for charity when there is opportunities for leadership and the resources of the state are available to lift the welfare of the people of the state.  People do not want charity. People want to be given opportunities. People want their commonwealth to be used meaningfully to empower them. There is no evidence of this on the ground.

So how would you describe Kwara State under Bukola Saraki political leadership?

I will rather not talk about that. He ceased to be governor almost three years ago so I would rather not talk about that. I would wish we move forward and see what the feature have for Kwarans.

But some people believe Saraki is still in control of the political leadership even under Ahmed’s administration?

He is not the subject I care to talk about.

Why in your opinion did Ahmed abandon PDP for APC?

I have no idea. I think you have to ask him that. But he has shown that someone else is pulling his string. I would not want to say more than that about him. Some believed that since his political godfather, Bukola Saraki, defected to APC, he had no option but to follow. That will be consistent with everything else he had done and he is the same person who said that ‘if you want to know where our political fortunes lie, do not ask me but ask my master somewhere.’ So it will certainly be consistent with that.

Some hold the view that Saraki defected to APC not for the genuine interest to serve Kwarans but possibly because  he is out of favour with the federal political authorities and because he is having problems with anti-corruption institutions and the presidency?

You will have to ask him for his real intentions why he made the move that he made.  But what I do know is that the interest of Kwara State people today is to have a change from selfish rule, from the rule based on the patronage for a few, where their commonwealth had been denied of them, where they had been robbed of  a lot of opportunities. That is the need of the Kwara State people and it is that need or yearning that I will rather concern myself with.

Ahmed is in the third year of his administration now, how would you assess his administration,  has he transformed the state?

I think it is a monumental failure.  There is absolutely nothing on the ground but you see, every day, some unknown bodies awarding him, ‘Best Governor on that and that.’  When ever you see that, you know that it is a sign of failure at home.  If you are a good governor, it is your people that will be championing you.  You never see Governor Babatunde Fashola and some other performing governors going about winning awards.  The only award that matters to them is what their people say.

How do you react to the handing over of the APC state structure to the defected governors, including handing it over to Saraki and Ahmed in Kwara?

If that is the decision of the national leadership of APC, one has to respect it and I can understand it from the point of view of national politics.  But from the point of view of the local needs of the people of Kwara, which is that they want change, such a move does not serve their cause at all.

With Saraki and Ahmed in charge, what future awaits Kwarans if APC wins in 2015?

The future that awaits Kwarans sadly will be the same of the whole years that the kwara people have been struggling to get away from. Kwara people want change and should APC in Kwara be under the leadership of  these personalities, that means that the years of struggle for kwara people for equal opportunities, emancipation and empowerment still remains a mirage.

There is the speculation that you will very soon dump APC for PDP. What is the situation?

I have heard that speculation too.  It is still speculation.  I am still in APC so it is still a speculation.

But if the party structure is given to Saraki and Ahmed what will be the next line of action?

We wait and see.

What is your word to Kwarans?

My word to them is that the cause for  economic emancipation and empowerment, for opportunities, justice and equity are causes that are worthy causes that we should all support and fight for and that we should continue to fight for those causes and never waiver.